Ofiget! Can it really be? Going alone to
Saint Petersburg - or Санкт Петербург as it is
written in Russian...on paper it sounds like quite a
challenge. Facts include very few or no signposts, street
names, metro names, bus route information, train tables etc.
written with latin letters. Most of it is in Russian - letters
based on the cyrillic alphabet. Now this calls for quite a lot
of planning...apart from the usual scouring of literature,
websites for information about sights and places to see, how
to get around, get from the airport to the city centre etc.
This calls for the study of a rather cryptic looking alphabet
and language.

I left for Gardermoen airport very late in
the night to sleep there. Since my flight path started at
08:45 I felt it was better to wake up and have a good
breakfast at the airport instead of driving in the middle of
the night and risking incidents that might prevent me from
making my flight in time. Still...I arrived very late and
ended up with only 4 1/2 hours of sleep..not really enough.
Anyway...a 1h05min flight with Finnair
sees me to Helsinki-Vantaa for a wait of nearly 3 hours before
my 35 min flight to `Piter` as the natives call it - during
which time I find out about the winner of the Nobel Peace
Prize on the news. Hm. The flights are uneventful...twice an
Embraer E170 jet..a fairly small one, but these may not be the
most trafficked routes around I guess. The onboard meals are
very simple - bread with cheese - still, more than SAS
serves (which is nothing).

We are served immigration papers shortly
before landing preparations - there was not even enough time
to complete filling these ones out. I get a long glimpse of
the city from the air as we make the approach towards Pulkovo
- 2 (Пулково - 2) and can make out the main course of
the river Neva (Река Нева). During the short bus ride
from the plane to the terminal comes the first reading
challenge - planes bearing the Руссий logo - I identify
them as belonging to the Rossiya airline, which is as far as I
know based in St Petersburg. Once inside, I complete my
immigration papers and head for the passport control. Hmm..no
lines at all. Is this the visa control, or is there more
ahead, I wonder? I head to the booth and after 90 seconds I am
let inside. Once on the inside, my suitcase is already waiting
for me. I check my watch as I come into the arrivals hall -
after a scheduled landing at 15:50 it has taken me less than
10 minutes to get to the exit and ready for the next stage -
getting to the city centre.

I head out for some fresh air and orient
myself. I can only see taxis and cars directly in front of the
terminal. I hang around for 5 minutes and see if any buses
arrive...there are none, so I decide to walk a little to the
left. I have two taxi offers, but I know already that these
are very expensive - even though they did claim it wasn`t - I
know better. I find instead a kind of minibus or maxi taxi, a
so called marshrutka (маршрутка), bearing the number
K-3 in front. I remember this from my planning - it should
take me straight to where I would otherwise get off the metro
if I went for the bus+metro option, namely Sennaya Ploshchad.
I check the hand written sign on the side window, and have my
confirmation - it says indeed Сенная Пл. (Sennaya Pl.)

I jump in and ask the driver for
confirmation - Сенная Площад? He nods his head. I
have some help putting my suitcase in the back of the car
(which I follow just in case), and hand him the fare for the
entire trip to the city centre - 26 руб (RUB - roubles),
which would be something like 0.6 €.

My alternative would be either a bus or
another marshrutka to the metro station Moskovskaya (Московская),
then the metro for six stops to Sennaya Ploshchad - with lots
of stuff to carry on the metro - at 16:30 on a friday. The
marshrutka option seemed more relaxing, even though there was
very little legroom. I watch as the buildings speed past or
grind by depending on the traffic situation - there is not
enough time to practice my alphabet skills on all of them...I
find myself still reading too slowly. `You need more practice,
tourist!` I tell myself - I expect I will have it during the
four coming days.

A french couple hops off at Moskovskaya
station - this is the normal route to follow, as I expect they
will use the metro from there. Perhaps they did not know this
one goes all the way to Sennaya Ploshchad. The rest of the
passengers are locals, as expected. A marshrutka is quite
practical - it follows a set route, so as long as you know
what this is, or you know the number of the route - you just
stretch out your hand to stop it for boarding, and ask it to
stop anywhere on its route for disembarking. Still...english
is not possible to use here, so you will need to know how to
ask the driver to stop: `Astonavite pozhaluista!` (Астонавите
пожалуиста!)

In my case, I did not need to worry about
this - as Sennaya Ploshchad was the last stop on the route. I
get off and spot the entrance to the metro station straight
ahead. Otherwise the area is a fairly big open space, as
`ploshchad` (площад) indeed means square or place. The
meaning of the square`s name is `haymarket`, and it was
originally used as a place to sell livestock, fodder and
firewood all the way back in the 1730s. Anyway...I know where
to go after planning my walk from here to my hotel using google
maps. Parts of the walking route isn`t too suitcase
friendly, such as highly elevated pavements and edges near the
two canals that I have to cross (Griboedova -
Грибоедова and Moyka - Мойка). As I pass the
second canal I see St Isaac`s Square (Исаакиевская
Площад - Isaakievskaya Ploshchad), with the hotels
Astoria (Астория) and Angleterre (Аиглетер) on
the right, perfectly overlooking the square and the cathedral.
Oh well..maybe next time ;)

As I get St Isaac`s Cathedral (Исаакиевский
Собор - Isaakievskiy Sobor) into full view with a perfect
blue sky behind and the sun illuminating the gold-covered
cupola, I can`t help it...I have to stop, put aside my
suitcase and pull out my camera and shoot it (in a gentle way
of course). My hotel is located on Pochtamtskaya ulitsa (Почтамтская
Улитса), just a few steps from the cathedral. I reach it
only 1,5 hours after stepping through passport control - not
too bad, considering friday afternoon traffic!

The hotel looks great on the inside - there
is a wide open atrium into which most rooms face, and a glass
roof on top of this. There is a winding staircase leading up
to a ballroom which is closed during my stay. And there is a
bar and of course dining room which also serves as breakfast
room in the morning - the Canvas restaurant. My room is
spacious enough, has two windows which do not open (for safety
reasons I am sure), and two huge twin beds with an assortment
of pillows - guaranteed to satisfy even the most picky
foreigner. The air conditioning works quite well - it is cold
in the room. There`s also a minibar, a safe, and a bottle of
complimentary water which is exchanged every day. In the
summertime, there is a bar on the 6th floor which overlooks
the cathedral, and in the basement there is a very well
equipped gym room. The hotel also features a souvenir shop and
two bankomats as well as a serviced bank (Western Union
branch).

Well...before I have fully settled in I
decide to go for a short walk - initial sightseeing and
get-to-know-your-surroundings. I head past the cathedral on
the northwest side, along a green park which leads to the
Admirality (Адмиралтейство - Admiralteystvo).
The cathedral is in fact one of the largest in the world (the
dome rises 102 metres above the ground), opened in 1858 and is
today - as it was during the Soviet era - a museum and not a
religious place. It is possible to walk up to the colonnade
for an extra fee and get some great views over the city and
the nearby buildings. Not today...maybe tomorrow...it is a bit
late already (past 7 in the evening). I head past the
Admirality, then on to Palace Square (Двортсовая
Площад - Dvortsovaya Ploshchad). It is huge, facing the
Winter Palace, which is part of The Hermitage (Эрмитаж
- Ermitazh) to the north and the General Staff Building (the
headquarters for the Russian army) to the south. In the middle
of the square, the 47 metre high Alexander column rises,
commemorating the victory in part of Tsar Alexander I over
Napoleon. Due to its immense weight and precise mathematical
calculations, there is no support below the column. Off to one
side of the square, I stumble over a peculiar sight - a bus
with the sign ТУАЛЕТ - toilet. This must be the biggest
portable one I have seen...a full-size bus rebuilt into a
toilet. Entrance on one side, exit tubes leading down into the
manholes on the other side. As the last rays of sun hit the
Winter Palace and the sky turns a dark pink behind the
somewhat distant Admirality, I feel that the day has been
quite successful.

I head back to the hotel for some rest and
to freshen up before browsing through a brochure in order to
find some place to have dinner. I settle for a nearby place -
Tandoori Nights; indian cuisine on this occasion. A clever
design with traffic lights informs pedestrians and drivers
alike the time that is left of either green or red light.
Traffic is sometimes quite heavy, some drive fast, some more
gently...but at least most seem to stop when they do a turn
over the zebra crossings.

Great...the road I planned to walk is
completely closed due to construction. I have to make my way
around St Isaac`s instead, but eventually I get there. A small
but intimate restaurant in a basement - complete with a small
fish tank and a big TV screen showing low quality Bollywood
music VCD`s. The food is great though...I go for a more or
less classic tikka style dish and red wine, feeling I have
deserved it. I hope.

As I have my camera with me, I can`t
wait...I have to head over to Palace square to see what it
looks like at night time, and boy is it amazing! As I have not
brought my tripod, I try my best to rest against a lamp post
to steady myself for my shots...most end up quite ok.

It is past 1 in the night before I finally
dive into bed!

Day 2

According to the weather forecast posted
inside the hotel elevator as well as the small note placed in
my room, the day today will be up to 8°C and sunny. Since I
also read on a travel forum before leaving and my hotel
brochure `St Petersburg in your pocket` confirms this - namely
that the fountains of Peterhof (Петергоф) will be
running until the 11th October - I feel lucky today, so I
decide to go there. I ask at the hotel if they know whether
the hydrofoil service from the Palace embankment is still
running - it seems it isn`t.

I am left with three options: metro + train,
metro + bus or metro + marshrutka. I decide to find out once I
get to the metro station of choice which one I will go for. I
head back for my `old` station at Sennaya Ploshchad - from
here I take the metro one stop to Tekhnologicheskiy Institut (Технологический
Институт), switch to another line and go one stop to
Baltiyskaya (Балтийская). Only one metro ticket is
necessary for this, in fact you can ride around the entire
city on one ticket, as long as you do not take the escalators
back up.

Once on the outside, I try to get my
bearings again and one of the first things I see is marshrutka
K-404, which I remember from my hotel guide brochure will take
me straight to Peterhof, and indeed the hand written sign says
Петергоф. The fare is 50 руб - still very much a
bargain. The ride takes the better part of an hour due to
traffic - Peterhof is situated almost 30 km outside the city,
towards the west, and facing the Gulf of Finland. I spot an
onion-roofed church on the way, and think to myself `aaa I
want to take a picture of this!` but Lady Fortune seems to be
in a good mood - 200 metres further ahead is the official
entrance to Peterhof.

Since I approach from the roadside, my first
sight is the large open area of the upper gardens with small
ponds, modest (relatively speaking) fountains and statues. At
the far end is the grand palace, built from 1714 and further
extended in later years, including the side wings with
chapels. Everything looks completely refurbished, the golden
onion roofs of the chapels shining brilliantly as the rays of
the sun touch them. There is a cold draft here, no doubt
coming from the bay on the other side of the palace. Guards
patrol the upper gardens - possibly because this is a free
access area. On the right hand side of the palace is the
entrance to the lower gardens. 300 руб for foreigners.
Nobody should complain about this fee when they see what is in
store...

The back side of the palace...the lower
gardens...a checkerboard floor...37 golden statues...64
fountains...142 water jets...and the canal leading down to the
docks and the bay. It is too overwhelming at first...it takes
time to get used to it - if this is at all possible - one has
to walk around the place for some time, seeing everything from
different angles, walk down the stairs, along the canal, cross
a bridge, walk back up...then maybe do it a second time. Lots
of photos taken...it is windy, and small drops of water from
the fountains stick to my solar protection cover. There are
quite a few people here, but it is not overly crowded. Some
groups, only very few foreigners...as well as some school
groups...almost all the words I hear seem to be Russian.

The fountains were not part of the original
design - they have been added slowly over time. There are no
pumps here - the water supply comes from some hills through 40
km of pipes, so the height difference alone gives enough
pressure to support them.

There is a separate entrance fee with a
possible guided tour inside the palace itself. I decide to
skip it - it would only result in more waiting, and I believe
I will focus on the Winter Palace instead. Besides...my tummy
tells me it is well past lunch time...so I decide to follow
the signs towards `Ресторан` - restaurant with
reasonable prices.

First of all I find something which looks
like a fast food snack bar - they offer pizzas, burgers, soft
drinks etc. Not my favourite food when sightseeing - besides
it is lunch time and I would prefer to try some local cuisine!
I finally manage to notice that the rather small building to
the side is a separate restaurant - Ресторан
Штандарт (Restaurant Shtandart) - it does not mean it
is a below-average one though. Once inside, the room is quite
cozy with wooden floors and walls, and dressed up waiters. The
menu looks interesting - so I decide to try the wild boar.
After a while the waiter comes back and says he cannot find it
in the Russian menu. My alternatives are bear or venison -
they recommend the venison in particular (no doubt because it
is 50% more pricey than the bear), but anyway...I decide to
try it. And some local bread. And red wine.

This ended up being my most expensive meal -
1200 руб - but it certainly was good! The plate was
typically gourmet-garnished, three separate pieces of meat
around circularly shaped mashed potatoes - and with a
wonderful mushroom sauce and extra mushrooms. The wine and
bread was good too!

It is time to head back to the exit and get
back home. I haven`t explored the entire park, but I wanted to
focus on the fountains instead. Besides...it is getting quite
cold and my nose is starting to run (more). As I cross the
street outside the palace grounds, I head back to the onion
roofed church and get a fairly good picture of it as some
raindrops fall. I head back to a bus stop, and hope I will be
able to see the marshrutka and will be able to test the theory
of stopping them by holding out your hand. No sweat...it works
like a charm, and the K-404 is easily identified. Getting back
to Baltiyskaya takes an hour due to some traffic
problems...but I will not head back to my hotel just yet. My
trusty guidebook (DK Eyewitness Guides) shows a pic of one of
the prettiest metro stations, namely Avtoto (Автово),
and I see it is only three steps from Baltiyskaya, although in
the wrong direction. I go there and admire it for a while - it
is indeed beautiful...like an underground palace, but there
are lots of people all around, and even though I wish to sneak
myself to taking a pic, I know it is not normally allowed...so
I decide not to I hop back on to the metro again...and by the
time I return to my hotel I find that I have spent around 6
hours on this trip alone.

After a short rest at the hotel (there is
little rest for the weary anyway - I can sleep when I am dead)
I decide to head out and follow the Canal Griboedova (Канал
Грибоедова). I follow it until I reach Nevskiy
Prospekt (Невский Проспект), where I see the
Cathedral of Our Lady of Kazan (Собор Казанской
Богоматерй - Sobor Kazanskoy Bogomatery). It was
built in the early 1800s and clearly modelled after St Peter`s
square and church in Rome and the dome stands around 80 metres
above the ground.

Directly opposite the cathedral, on the
other side of Nevskiy Prospekt, is the Singer`s House (the
sewing machine company, thus not music-related ;)

A bit further along the canal and I find
myself at one of the major icons of the city - the Church on
Spilled Blood (Храм Спаса-на-Крови - Khram
Spasa-na-Krovi). It was built on the spot of the assassination
of Tsar Alexander II, which happened in 1881. Building
commenced in 1883. Both the outside and inside is adorned with
magnificent mosaics of more than 20 types of minerals. It
opened in 1998 after more than 20 years of restoration work -
apparently is was used as a storehouse during the Soviet era.
The onion roofed church separates itself from some of the
other more western-inspired ones around the city - this one is
definitely more exotic, more Russian. Some of the domes look
like candies...I wonder if they will let me up to lick them?

It is getting late, and again I head back to
my hotel - for very little rest, but instead to prepare for a
camera + tripod trip. I head over to Palace Square and set up
my tripod in anticipation of the coming of darkness and flood
light. It takes a while..I wait half an hour, as do the
scattered people around the huge area. Then it finally lights
up and I manage to get some great shots (hopefully) of the
Winter Palace with the column in front, as well as the General
Staff building. Few people are around...a woman who passes by
says something in Russian to me, which I cannot understand.
She seems positive...maybe she thinks my camera setup looks
professional - so I just smile back :)

After another half hour it is time to head
back to the hotel...and to find some place to eat. I decide to
go for a greek restaurant, which is very close by, just off to
the side from the hotel Astoria. As I walk on a zebra, a
passing guy says something to me. I decide to reply `Я не
понимаю` - `Ya ne ponimayu` - `I don`t understand`. `Не
понимаю?` he replies, smiles, and walks on.

The restaurant seems to have a
live-music-event this evening, which adds an entrance charge
but gives an extra salad (a very yummy one). I go for a pork
dish which I do not remember the name of, and some white wine.
In my non-smoking room there is only one other group of people
- some friends/couples celebrating or something, as some seem
to have had a fair bit to drink. The mood is good anyway, and
even though one of the guys decides to take along one of the
chairs at my table as he passes by in a wide arc, he puts it
back and says `извините` - izvinite (excuse me).

On my way back, as I see a police car
stopping by the side of the road just as I pass it, I realize
I forgot my passport or backup copy of it. Fortunately most
police cars at this hour seem to be focused on keeping a
watchful eye on traffic, especially in intersections. A bit of
extra excitement there...phew.

Another long day and late night comes to an
end - I feel my back and shoulders beginning to seriously
ache. I hope I will survive the next day. I hope my bed will
repair me. Again past midnight...zzzzzzzzz.

Day 3

Two main attractions remain which are
centrally located and fairly close to each other - one being
of course the State Hermitage Museum (Государственный
Эрмитаж - Gosudarstvennyi Ermitazh), the other being
the Peter & Paul Fortress (Петропавловская
Крепост - Petropavlovskaya Krepost). These ones should
be easy enough to combine as a half-day trip or so, as I do
not plan to spend hours and hours inside the Hermitage.

Again I head to my old buddy Sennaya
Ploshchad for a metro ride. I expect it to be a long one, as
it will cross the river Neva before I reach my planned
destination station - Gorkovskaya (Горковская). But
the metro ride seems especially long - and I see the cars
slowing down at some point where there is light and some
workers are doing some...work, before it speeds up again and
goes far...before finally stopping. As I get out and read the
name of the station - Петроградская -
Petrogradskaya - I begin to worry. I find out that Gorkovskaya
station is closed. I saw no indication of this anywhere.
Great! Do I take the metro back again, or do I walk all the
way back to the Peter & Paul Fortress from here? After
some minutes of decision making, I head out into the street
and look around. Which side am I on? There is a long street
which disappears into the horizon either way. I have to study
my map and look at the sun before I find out I am on the east
side of the road, and will thus have to turn left to get to
the fortress. After a pretty long walk I finally see the park
in front of it, head through and see the bridge leading to one
of the fortress gates.

An official looking man seems to want to
stop me and says something to me in Russian. I shrug,
indicating I do not understand. He says something more in
Russian, and I still do not understand. Do I need a special
permit or ticket to enter the fortress, I wonder. `Boat trip`
he says finally. `Aaah... Нет спасибо!` (Net,
spasibo! No, thanks!) I reply.

The Peter & Paul Fortress is the oldest
remaining building in the city. In fact, one might call this
the pillar of the city from 1703. A fortress was build on a
natural island to protect what would later be the city of St
Petersburg. The fortress has some dark history as well - it
was originally built in wood and later replaced piece by piece
in stone. Hundreds of forced labourers died while building the
fortress, and its bastions was used as prisons and places of
torture for political prisoners.

The jewel of the crown is without doubt the
Cathedral of Peter & Paul (Петропавговский
собор - Petropavlovskiy sobor). It was designed by
Domenico Trezzini in 1712, completed in 1733 and the
magnificent golden spire rises 122 metres above the ground.
Inside the cathedral are the tombs of the tsars, including the
members of the last Romanovs.

Once on the outside of the fortress, I pass
a beautifully maintained ship which seems to be permanently
anchored here. What is most surprising is that there seems to
be a gym on the bottom level - I see people on treadmills
there! Otherwise it seems to be a restaurant of sorts. I head
across Birzhevoy Most (Биржевой Мост) to
Vasilievskiy island (Васильевский остров)
and round the Naval Museum (previously the stock exchange).
Outside stand two rostral columns, originally intended to
serve as beacons of light. At their bases, marble figures
represent the great rivers of Russia: Volga, Dnieper, Neva and
Volkhov (even though Neva is only 74 km long, it is very
impressive volume wise). At the mouth of the river, it splits
into two parts which encompass Vasilievsky Island - Bolshaya (Болшая
Нева) Neva and Malaya Neva (Малая Нева)
цруку bolshaya means large and malaya small, and the -aya
ending refers to Neva as female. At 12 o`clock sharp, a cannon
on one of the bastions of the Peter & Paul fortress shoots
one salva, for people to check their watches - a tradition
which has been kept since 1736. Little did I know of it before
I found out the hard way...I was wondering if there was a war
or bomb attack somewhere. The ground shook, starting off
several car alarms, and I heard a siren nearby. I decided to
continue along the small artificial spit or Strelka (Стрелка)
before crossing Dvortsovy Most (Двортсовй Мост)
and finally towards Palace Square - and inside!

Before I left, I had the option of buying a
ticket online. I could also use my hotel room key to pay a
`special project price` according to my communication with the
concierge beforehand. I decided to go for the regular line
anyway, and even though it is a sunday, I assume (and hope)
that it is late enough in the season for much shorter lines.
On the right hand side, they let in groups of people before
closing access. Only one counter is open, I find out once I
get inside. The system is a bit confusing. The line continues
up the stairs, past the counter, then does a 180° turn and
goes back to the counter. People with prepaid tickets/vouchers
or people with guides (official or not) cut into the line and
go straight for the counter. As my turn comes, I am
intercepted by a woman who seems to be in a big rush - `Извините!`
(Izvinite - excuse me!)

The normal price - or price for foreigners -
is 350 руб, while the cost for Russians is 100. They pay a
subsidised price for entry, which in my eyes is not a bad idea
- it enables most residents to be able to enjoy this treasure
as well. I pay an additional 200 руб for a photo permit. As
I head in, I am stopped and made aware I have to leave my
jacket in the wardrobe. It makes sense, I think. Another try,
and I am let in - thankfully my photo bad is allowed, as it
would be difficult to hold my camera in my hand all the time
while navigating through the palace.

I didn`t read much about the inside of the
palace, apart from a couple of rooms that I know I should see
- in particular the grand staircase, which I happen upon
straight away, and it is a most impressive thing to see! From
here on, I start to wander from room to room, taking some pics
here and there, marvelling at the sheer size, beauty and
decorations, glancing on a piece of art here and
there...before finally finding out that I should have brought
some kind of map after all - it is quite easy to get lost
here, with some rooms having four exits into either other
rooms or hallways with further exits in either direction. As I
continue to navigate (or more precisely, wander aimlessly
around) my tummy reminds me that it was a bad idea to get in
line for the palace tour before lunch. As I see now, it will
be past 4 in the afternoon before I am finished - if I do my
own `short tour`. Room after room...one art department after
another...European art, old art, Egyptian, Far East,
Russian...after 90 minutes I head for the exit.

It is too much to devour in one go. I read
some place that if you spend 1 minute looking at every piece
of art in the museum, and the museum had been open all days of
the year, it would take 8 years to get through everything. I
buy a souvenir from the museum shop - a DVD with the major
sights of the city, and later find out some impressive numbers
about the site: the exhibition itself (accessible museum area)
covers 353 rooms, there are more than 2 million exhibits
(according to wikipedia, there are nearly 3 million. Who is
counting?) The palace`s total area is 10400 square metres,
with a total of 1050 rooms, 1886 doors, 1945 windows, and 117
staircases. Can you say Офигет (ofiget ≈ oh my
god)??

The palace was founded in 1764 by Catherine
the Great but was only opened to the public in 1852. In
addition to the Winter Palace, the buildings comprising the
Hermitage that are accessible to the public are the Small
Hermitage, Old Hermitage and New Hermitage. The Winter Palace
itself was the main residence of the Russian tsars, but
Catherine the Great was an art lover. During her lifetime she
acquired 4000 paintings, 38000 books, 10000 engraved gems,
16000 coins and medals as well as a natural history collection
filling two galleries. Before this, the collection overgrew
the building, and the Old Hermitage was added in 1787, as well
as a private theatre.

Enough with numbers - lunch or I will die! I
head back to the hotel and wonder what to choose - I would
really like some Russian cuisine again. I still haven`t tried
the borsht! I check my small brochure and consider a place
called `Krokodil` (Крокодил) on 18 Galernaya ulitsa (Галепная
улитса). But for some reason I end up forgetting the
number, thinking it is 30-something. Too much on my mind...too
many impressions...too many thoughts...after walking for 15
minutes in the same direction with no success, I reverse my
steps along the parallel street - Konnogvardeiskiy boulevard (Конногвардеиский
бульвар). On my way back I see the sign `Russian vodka
museum` as well as the interesting letters `Ресторан`
(Restoran). I have a brief look at the menu outside and
confirm reasonable prices as well as the availability of
borsht! Finally! As I head inside and two official welcomers
say `здравствуйте` (zdravstvuyte) I wonder if I
need a table reservation to qualify for a place inside. It
seems I do not - at least not for lunch. There is a separate
manned wardrobe, and I manage to hang on to my camera even
though he wants it in the wardrobe too. I want to document my
lunch...and head inside the restaurant, which is empty apart
from two others in a corner.

I order Ukrainian style borsht, pirozhk, and
blini for dessert. No wine for lunch today...not on a stomach
resembling a raisin! And certainly no vodka, even though I am
in the museum! Nope...sparkling water for you today, malchik!
The borsht is surprisingly good, and is complete with a small
dose of sour cream. It reminds me of Hungarian goulash soup,
only milder, and of course with beetroot, which is its base.
But it does not taste like the pickled beetroot I have tried
at home - fortunately, I might add. The pirozhki are stuffed
with raindeer meat - they are ok, but not a wow-experience.
The (sweet) blinis are quite good though - a mild type of
small pancakes.

Mission complete. I have survived. Time to
head back to the hotel...and stretch out to try to soothe my
shoulder and back muscles, which are killing me by now. I wish
to visit St Isaac`s cathedral and go to the roof for a great
view of the city...but I need to rest! I decide to heal up
instead and have a good rest before going out for dinner not
much later. Tandoori nights again - but it is good! Tomorrow I
will try something else...it`s a promise!

I finish the day with a drink in the bar
before bedtime. I cannot remember the drink (cocktail) but it
was good. As I slowly sip at it, I lose myself in my
thoughts...my expression must have seemed distant, as I
somewhere at the edge of my vision notice the bar girl
stopping by my table, cocking her head and hesitating before
asking if I would like another drink. I manage to snap out of
my thoughts and reply with a `no, thank you`.

Day 4+5

How can one day with such terrible weather -
horizontal snow and an icy cold wind during the first half of
the day - pass by so fast? How is it possible that these 24
hours just pass by when they end up feeling like only a couple
of hours? I visited Nevskiy Prospekt (Невский
Проспект), including one of the small Chocolate
Museums (Музей Чоколада) on number 17. It is
truly amazing what they can do with this material. The museum
is small, but items on display are for sale.

I visited the Russian vodka museum - this
time for a guided tour including samples at the end! One shot
glass of pure vodka, one with added cranberry (if I remember
correctly) taste, and one with honey taste - all 40%. In
addition pickled cuecumber and rye bread with pieces of fish.
So how was it? Well, vodka is...spirit. It has little taste of
its own. The second one was the best...so now I can say I have
been to Russia and tasted vodka - and found my way back after!

На здоровье! Na zdorovye! Directly
meaning `to your health!`

Lunch at a very cool looking bar hidden
behind the chocolate museum - Siberian style dumplings. Dinner
at Blowup
- near Nevskiy Prospekt. And Mojito. Then it is almost
midnight at the hotel...

How can time fly by like such a rush...there
is not enough time...I need more time :(

I get up late the last day. I have not slept
well. I can`t eat breakfast. It is goodbye time...

I rush out for a matryoshka. As I check out
and start the lonely walk towards Sennaya Ploshchad, I feel as
if I have left behind a part of me.

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